yellow/lime blotches on leaves?

[chesteratkins]

Hi, Chester here. First time personal grow and I am about 5 weeks in with 4 plants.

I started noticing that some of the leaves have yellow/lime green blotches on and I'm concerned beause it appears to be getting worse, albeit very slowly.
Plants still seem to be growing, but I just wondered if this is something I should be particularly concerned with?

My soil pH is 6.5-6.8 and I recently installed a dehumidifier as the room was showing 90+% humidity, although I am waiting on delivery of a more accurate hygrometer as my current one is still showing around 80% despite the dehumidifier being off (it is set to switch off between 55-65%).

I have some BioBizz grow nutrients which I had crudely mixed with some water and I'm wondering if this yellowing is because I over-did it? Anyway, I have stopped ALL nutrients for now until I can contain the problem.

I am using a 200w Envirolite (blue spectrum) and I also wondered if I had it too close to the plants and the yellowing was a sign of burning? Some, not all, of the leaves do have a little dry curl at the tips. I've since raised the light to a good 24-36 inch away from the plants.

Temperature is good in my room and, without supplemental heating, sits at between 24-27o and, at night, never dropping below 20-21o.

Am I perhaps overwatering?

Anyway, please find attached 2 pictures of the problem. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also, whilst I'm seeking advice...how long now before I should be able to determine sex? And how long should I let these plants (Northern Lights) grow, in the vegetative period before swtiching to 12/12? I am currently providing them with 20/4.

Really appreciate the advice.
Chester Atkins
Nashville

chesteratkins Reviewed by chesteratkins on 12-02-2006. yellow/lime blotches on leaves? Hi, Chester here. First time personal grow and I am about 5 weeks in with 4 plants. I started noticing that some of the leaves have yellow/lime green blotches on and I'm concerned beause it appears to be getting worse, albeit very slowly. Plants still seem to be growing, but I just wondered if this is something I should be particularly concerned with? My soil pH is 6.5-6.8 and I recently installed a dehumidifier as the room was showing 90+% humidity, although I am waiting on delivery of Rating: 5

[emmpey]

your plant needs some more N (maybe some magnesium as well), after 5 weeks you should be feeding em regularly. do a half-strength feed and see how they go in a few days. if the leaves get darker but you still have some lighter patches between the veins then try some magensium as well (epsom salts).

NL is very tough with nutes so overfeeding has to be extreme to cause problems. I think you have probably been too cautious with the feeding.

apart from that they look healthy so i don't think you're overwatering. its a good idea to let them get dry out a bit every now and then - I wait for the bottom leaves to begin drooping a bit before every third watering.

pre-flowers usuall appear after the 5th node - but your gonna need some magnification to seem them initially.

I use evirolites and as long as the leaves are not touching the tube it'll be fine - the closer the better, i have mine 1-2cm away.

[L3G10N]

I agree with emmpey. Try what he said with your nutes. Its not a over feeding problem, if it was i think the leaf tips would be browning and crispy.

[chesteratkins]

emmpey, when you say "I wait...before every third watering", what do you mean "third watering"? You water them in between the drooping? Or you feed them every 3rd watering?

I thought I had over-watered them - I should only really be watering every 3-4 days right? Soil seems quite soggy if I do more than that. Also, should I be adding "nutes" for every watering?

Yes, someone told me that I could have the envirolite close to the plants but when I saw the yellowing, I wanted to rule the lights out as a cause. Thanks for clarifying this for me.

Where can I get epsom salts? A regular store? Do I apply the salts to the water?

I bought a x30 pen microscope. Is it worth me trying to take a photo of the 4th/5th/6th node and perhaps people on here could help me out? How many weeks, considering I am at week 5, will it take before I should be able to confidently determine sex?

And how many weeks away, roughly, would you say I am from changing to 12/12 photoperiod?

With that in mind, am I right in thinking that I should switch to a red-spectrum envirolite for flowering?

L3G10N - the leaf tips are curled a little, and seem quite dry, but are not browning right enough. I'll try halfing the nutrients and see if the yellowing clears.

So many questions!! Thanks everyone. REALLY appreciate it.
Regards
Chester

[emmpey]

emmpey, when you say "I wait...before every third watering", what do you mean "third watering"? You water them in between the drooping? Or you feed them every 3rd watering?

I thought I had over-watered them - I should only really be watering every 3-4 days right? Soil seems quite soggy if I do more than that. Also, should I be adding "nutes" for every watering?

i feed them every watering which is about every 3 days - when the pots are dry at the top 2" and it feels light. but on the third i leave it until i notice the bottom leaves droop - i don't think its important, i just like doing it

Yes, someone told me that I could have the envirolite close to the plants but when I saw the yellowing, I wanted to rule the lights out as a cause. Thanks for clarifying this for me.

yeah, they're not very good at penetration but they are cool so you can get em real close.

Where can I get epsom salts? A regular store? Do I apply the salts to the water?

pharmacy/drug store/chemist usually. 1 tsp per gallon, you should dissolve it in a little warm water then add it to the feed water. only do it if the light patches remain on the leaves after you've done a feed.

I bought a x30 pen microscope. Is it worth me trying to take a photo of the 4th/5th/6th node and perhaps people on here could help me out? How many weeks, considering I am at week 5, will it take before I should be able to confidently determine sex?

you should be able to tell with x30 - look for the wispy white hairs and post a pic

And how many weeks away, roughly, would you say I am from changing to 12/12 photoperiod?

dunno, usually you want to veg for 6-8 weeks - how many plants you got?

With that in mind, am I right in thinking that I should switch to a red-spectrum envirolite for flowering?

yep :thumbsup:

[amydaynow69]

hello i don't think you have anything to worry about, your pic doesn't really show any problems it may be that your lights are too close to the plant? i would need more info to really help, however i am just moved to nashville and i am looking for new smoking friends as all mine are in ohio. would love to chat more with you.

[aznson01]

if u ask me ur plant looks fine and ur looking at everything and thinking about it too much, dont worry just let it grow

[chesteratkins]

Hi. Here is an update, on week 6-7 of my personal grow.

I wanted to ask which were the pre-flowers and where they appear? On the photo attached you'll notice I've marked 3 points; A, B & C. Which, if any, are the pre-flowers?

A question relating to this is...do I move to 12/12 BEFORE determining sex or after? I have decided to give them a couple more weeks in the veg stage anyway, but I don't want the males to take over so I'd take any advice on this.

Thanks again. This board is great for asking questions etc.

Hi to amy also and all subsequent posters! :jointsmile:

Hope to hear from you.
Best Regards
Chester Atkins
Nashville

[dutch.lover]

hey emmpey, you said Northern Lights needs a lot of nutes (something along those lines)? I have a NL plant and it is way smaller than all the rest of my plants, and it is lime green in color rather than being darker. Should I just up the N like crazy and see what happens?

[chesteratkins]

hey dutch.lover, I have NL too and I've noticed the lime greeny color. In a way it's reassuring to know that it might just be the variety as opposed to a deficiency of any kind.

I'm feeding 2ml bio-bizz grow organic nutrients per 2L water just now as I was worried I was over-doing it with the nutrients before, however my plants do seem to look reasonably healthy and continue to grow. As aznson01 said, I'm probably thinking about it too much and should just let them grow.

I'd still appreciate any advice on when to switch to 12/12 though. What am I looking for, in terms of pre-flower in the veg stage, to know, firstly, what sex they are and, secondly, that they are mature and ready for 12/12. Any indication from my picture, above, or is it too early to tell?

Thanks again y'all.

Regards
Chester Atkins
Nashville